A conventional plastic integrated circuit package generally comprises a lead frame or substrate, an integrated circuit die made of silicon, and a protective layer to protect the die and the electrical connections between the die and the substrate.
A popular packaging option for high performance integrated circuit dies is a ball grid array (BGA). Reasons for the popularity of the BGA include the absence of leads that can be bent, which greatly decreases problems resulting from improper handling and lack of planarity, and the ability of BGAs to self-center, which reduces placement problems. In addition, by using a relatively dense array of metal balls for input/output connections, BGAs provide a relatively small package size as compared with other typical packaging options.
However, because the substrate of a conventional integrated circuit package is made of fiberglass or another insulating material and the protective layer is also made of an insulating material, heat dissipation from the integrated circuit die is limited. Thus, a BGA package structure may be unable to meet thermal requirements in areas such as disk drives, automotive applications, and the like.